The Future of Retail: Exploring the Transformative Power of AI

Delian Partners
Mar 17, 2023
2 min read

In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence in the retail industry has become increasingly popular, with many big tech companies implementing the technology to enhance customer experiences and streamline operations. According to Yahoo Finance, the global AI retail market size is expected to reach $25.83 billion by 2028 from $5.19 billion in 2022.

Customer service stands out as the most prominent retail application for AI technology, with Amazon being one of the major investors in this domain. Amazon's Alexa Chat Bot is powered by a combination of natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), and automatic speech recognition (ASR) technologies. When a user types a request into the chatbot, the ASR technology converts the text into a digital format that can be analyzed by the NLP algorithms. The NLP algorithms then analyze the syntax, grammar, and context of the user's request to determine the most appropriate response. In the meantime, the ML component enables the system to learn and improve over time based on users’ interactions: The more users interact with the chatbot, the better it becomes at understanding their needs and providing accurate responses.

Also, Alexa's AI-powered shopping assistant uses a combination of algorithms and data analysis to provide customers with product recommendations. In addition to that, the chatbot can also handle other types of requests, such as answering questions, placing orders, and providing customer with 24/7 support, meaning that they can to shop whenever they want without needing human assistance.

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AI is also being used by e-commerce companies to improve search results and product categorization. Alibaba, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world, uses AI-powered image recognition technology to automatically categorize products based on their visual characteristics, and uses NLP to analyze product descriptions and categorize them based on the words and phrases used. This allows the platform to identify product attributes and features even if they are not explicitly listed. Additionally, Alibaba has launched a virtual assistant, AliGenie, which uses AI to help customers with their shopping experience providing them with more personalized recommendations which are tailored on user’s preferences.

According to Yahoo Finance, AI market size was valued at $95.60 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $1,847.50 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 32.9% during that period. The use of AI in retail is becoming increasingly popular, and many big tech companies are developing new features to enhance customer experiences and streamline operations. Chatbots, virtual assistants, product recommendations, search optimization, and categorization are just some of the ways that AI is being used in ecommerce. As AI technology continues to evolve, we can expect even more innovative use cases to emerge, leading to improved customer experiences and increased efficiency in the ecommerce industry.

The information in this article should not be regarded as a description of services provided by Delian Partners SA. The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security or investment product. It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry. The views reflected in this article are subject to change at any time without notice.

How is AI impacting the healthcare industry?

Delian Partners
Sep 2, 2021
2 min read

In the wake of the pandemic, the demand for better healthcare services is rapidly increasing. A smart hospital refers to a combination of artificial intelligence, cloud technology, and connected devices utilized to enhance patient’s care services and optimize hospital’s workflows. The objective is to create a connected ecosystem to provide patients with the best experience while allowing hospitals to increase their operational efficiency.

Healthcare startup Subtle Medical has developed a deep learning-based application which enhances images during the acquisition phase of the radiology workflow and improve hospital's productivity by reducing work hours for diagnosis. The company uses NVIDIA’s Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to improve PET image quality and shortening the image recognition pipeline, from 10 minutes to 10 seconds per patient.

Intel also uses AI based applications to make healthcare services more personalized, connected, and smart. Through Natural Language Processing (NLP), Intel is accelerating the development of telemedicine: In the next years for doctors, it will be normal to visit a patient remotely or to keep automatically note of a visit, uploading it directly into the Cloud. The combination of Telemedicine and AI will help smart hospitals to systematically analyze patients’ real-time data and to respond quickly to emergencies, as AI software can analyze data quicker than humans and more rapidly identify medical issues before they become calamitous.

Also, tech giant Apple is working with hospitals to make it easier for patients to share information with their doctors: Through the Apple Watch, people can share their health data with doctors and keep these recorded in a dashboard accessible through the app. Apple collaborates with many institutions to establish the clinical accuracy of Apple Watch features by continuously upgrading its software and technology, showing that the cardiac metrics it monitors is as good as clinical tests.

Smart hospitals are disrupting the healthcare industry. As reported by MarketWatch, the smart hospital market is expected to be around $77.80B by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 23.5% over the forecasted period. Technology can enrich people’s lives, and AI – including machine learning, deep learning, etc.- plays a critical role to reach this goal. By combining innovative infrastructure and smart technologies, it will be possible to create a metaverse where patients' health can be constantly kept under control and hospitals can respond quicker than ever to emergencies providing more personalized treatments.

Live Streaming is Replacing Traditional Media

Delian Partners
Jul 21, 2021
2 min read

Even if live streaming has been around for many years, it experienced a tremendous acceleration during the pandemic as people spent on average 30% more time engaging with their smartphones and media devices.

As technology and media consumption remains higher than pre-covid levels, the success of Live Streaming is growing on a global scale. One of the sectors in which it has been more successful is e-commerce: E-commerce consumption accelerated by three years during the pandemic, and the increased competition in the virtual space worked as a catalyst, pushing companies to improve their users’ online experience and catch their attention.

Chinese tech giant Alibaba was the pioneer of Live Streaming in e-commerce. Through the Live Streaming platform Taobao, Alibaba created a new personalized shopping experience, connecting companies with roughly 800 million monthly users who visit Alibaba’s e-commerce site. Taobao’s range of products available in live streaming has been growing massively and the platform is expanding its offer to those categories previously available only offline, such as cars and large appliances.

Live streaming has also become a key feature in the social media landscape. With 2.6 billion downloads, 1.6 billion worldwide users (including Duoyin), and 800 million monthly active users, TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms ever. What makes TikTok unique is its AI algorithm. Once a video is uploaded on the platform, the AI algorithm uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze and categorize the video – including audio, hashtag, and images, which allows TikTok to provide users with highly targeted content that they find most interesting. In this way, TikTok’ content can engage its new users for up to 10 minutes, which is three times the capability of Instagram.

Another example is the Amazon-owned platform Twitch, which hosts 91% of all video game streaming and provides the content of more than 4 million broadcasters, monthly. In a high-competitive video games landscape, Twitch differs for the “Just Chatting” category: Streamers can engage with the community and talk to viewers even when they are not playing any game. To understand the impressive growth of the platform, consider that Twitch peaked at around 1.7 billion hours watched in November 2020, versus Facebook’s all-time-high of 250 million in September.

The live streaming market can become the largest entertainment medium. As reported by TechJury, the global live streaming market is surpassing the traditional media ecosystem - such as TV or social media- and it is expected to be worth over $247B by 2027. The growth trajectory is supported by a secular shift in consumer habits, considering that 63% of people aged 18-34 watch live streaming content regularly.